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Author: 


De  Leon,  Daniel 


Title: 


Industrial  unionism 


Place: 


[New  York] 

Date: 

1918 


MASTER   NEGATIVE  # 


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BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


ORIGINAL  MATERIAL  AS  FILMED  -    EXISTING  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  RECORD 


Biislness 
D267 

D34 


De  Leon,  Daniel,  1852-1914. 

Industrial  unionism.  Also,  Industrial 
xmionism,  an  address  delivered  at  New  York, 
Dec.  10,  1905,  by  Eugene  V.  Debs.  jNew  Yorkj 
New  York  labor  news  co.,  1918. 

10,  22  p. 


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THE  UBRARIES 


Graduate 
SCHOOL  OF  BUSINESS 
Library 


Industrial  Unionism 


by 

DANIFl.  !)h  Li:^.ON 


ALSO 


■4 


Industrial   Unionism 

An  ad  d^livorcd  at  Grand  Central  Palace,   New   York, 

Suitday.  December  10,  1905. 

By 

F\  (;knk  V  dkbs 

Stenographically  reported  by  ♦^he 

V/ilic  Tvoewritir,g  fo., 

N-  V   VcxK  Ci:y.  M.  Y. 


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19IK 


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INDUSTRIAL    UNIONISM 

By 
V  ;:  DANIEL  DE  LEON. 


\^:i 


•  •    • 


••  • 

•  •  • 

•   •  • 


I  . 


I. 

In  these  days,  when  the  term  'industrial  Unionism"  is 
being  played  with  fast  and  loose — ^when,  in  some  quarters, 
partly  out  of  conviction,  partly  for  revenue,  "striking  at  the 
ballot-box  with  an  ax,"  theft,  even  murder,  "sabotage,"  in 
short,  is  preached  in  its  name ; — when,  at  the  National  Coun- 
cils of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  lip-service  is  rendered  to  it  as  a  cloak 
under  which  to  justify  its  practical  denial  by  the  advocacy 
and  justification  of  scabbery,  as  was  done  at  Rochester,  at 
the  1912  convention,  by  the  Socialist  Party  man  and  Inter- 
national Typographical  delegate  Max  Hayes;  when  notoriety- 
seekers  strut  in  and  thereby  bedrabble  its  fair  feathers ;  when 
the  bourgeois  press,  partly  succumbing  to  the  yellow  streak 
that  not  a  memiber  thereof  is  wholly  free  from,  partly  in  the 
interest  of  that  confusion  in  which  capitalist  intellectuality 
sees  the  ultimate  sheet-anchor  of  Class  Rule,  promotes,  with 
lurid  reports,  "essays"  and  editorials,  a  popular  misconcep- 
tion of  the  term ; — at  this  season  it  is  timely  that  the  Social- 
ist Labor  Party,  the  organization  which,  more  than  any 
other,  contributed  in  raising  and  finally  planting,  in  1905, 
the  principle  and  the  structure  of  Industrialism,  reassert 
what  Industrial  Unionism  is,  re-state  the  problem  and  its  im- 
port. 

Capitalism  is  the  last  expression  of  Class  Rule.  The  eco- 
nomic foundation  of  Class  Rule  is  the  private  ownership  of 
the  necessaries  for  production.  The  social  structure,  or  garb, 
of  Class  Rule  is  the  Political  State — that  social  structure  in 
which  Government  is  an  organ  separate  and  apart  from  pro- 
duction, with  no  vital  function  other  than  the  maintenance 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  ruling  class. 

The  overthrow  of  Class  Rule  means  the  overthrow  of  the 


2  INDUSTBIAL  UNIONISM 

political  State,  and  its  substitution  with  the  Industrial  Social 
Order,  under  which  the  necessaries  for  production  are  collec- 
tively owned  and  operated  by  and  for  the  people. 

Goals  determine  methods.  The  goal  of  social  evolution 
being  the  final  overthrow  of  Class  Eule,  its  methods  must 
nt  the  goal. 

As  in  nature,  where  optical  illusions  abound,  and  stand  in 
the  way  of  progress  until  cleared,  so  in  society. 

The  fact  of  economic  despotism  by  the  ruling  class  raises, 
with  some,  t^e  illusion  that  the  economic  organization  and 
activity  ^of  the  despotized  workjing  class  is  all-sufficient  to 
remove  the  ills  complained  of. 

«,Jv!'%l*''*  ""Lp^!!*^^^  despotism  by  the  ruling  class  raises, 
with  others  the  illusion  that  the  political  organization  and 
activity  of  the  despotized  working  class  is  aU-sufficient  to 
brmg  about  redress. 

The  one-legged  conclusion  regarding  economic  organiza- 
ton  and  activity  fatedly  abuts,  in  ihe  end,  in  pure  and  sim- 
ple bombism  as  exemplified  in  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  despite  its 
Cmc  Federation  and  Militia  of  Christ  affiliations,  L  well 
as  by  the  Anarcho-Syndicalist  so-called  Chicago  I  W  W  — 
m  Bakoumnism,  in  short,  against  which  the  genius  of  Marx 
struggled  and  warned.  * 

The  one-legged  conclusion  regarding  political  organization 
and  actmiy,  as  fatedly  abuts,  in  the  end,  in  pure  and  simple 
ballotism  as  already  numerously  and  lamentablv  exemplified 
in  ihe  Socialist  Party,-likewise  struggled  ^and  warned 
against  by  Marx  as  "parliamentary  idiocy'' 

Industrial  Unionism,  free  from  optical  'illusions,  is  clear 

npon  the  goal--the  substitution  of  ihe  political  State  with 

the  Industnal  Government.    Clearness  of  vision  renders  In- 

flrlc^j'^'T^'^  '"^'"''^  ^°*^  ^  ^e  Anarchist  self-deceit 

nh.-pf  fw""^  ^^^T^'^'^/'  '^"^^^^  ^g^^«^  ^th  ^1  the  mis- 
chief that  flows  therefrom,  and  to  the  politician's  ^'parlia- 

S'cS  Ruk  ^         ^    ^^  *^  legislation  for  the  overtlirow 

The  Industrial  Union  grasps  the  principle:  "J^o  Govern- 
ment  no  organization;  no  organization,  no  co-operative  la- 
bor, no  co-operative  labor,  no  abundance  for  all  ^thout  ar- 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM 


8 


duous  toil,  hence,  no  Freedom." — Hence,  the  Industrial  Un- 
ion aims  at  a  democratically  centralized  Government,  accom- 
panied by  the  democratically  requisite  "local  self-rule.". 

The  Industrial  Union  grasps  the  principle  of  the  political 
State— -central  and  local  authorities  disconnected  from  pro- 
ductive activity;  and  it  grasps  the  requirements  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Freedom — the  central  and  local  administrative 
authorities  of  the  productive  capabilities  of  the  people. 

The  Industrial  Union  hearkens  to  the  command  of  social 
evolution  to  cast  the  nation,  and,  with  the  nation,  its  gov- 
ernment, in  a  mold  different  from  the  mold  in  which  Class 
Rule  casts  nations  and  existing  governments.  While  Class 
jRule  caste  the  nation,  and,  with  the  nation,  its  government, 
in  the  mold  of  territory.  Industrial  Unionism  casts  the  na- 
tion in  the  mold  of  useful  occupations,  and  transforms  the 
nation's  government  into  the  representations  from  these.  Ac- 
cordingly, Industrial  Unionism  organizes  the  useful  occupa- 
tions of  the  land  into  the  constituencies  of  Future  Society. 

In  performing  this  all-embracing  function,  Industrial 
Unionism,  the  legitimate  offspring  of  civilization  comes 
equipped  with  all  the  experience  of  the  Age. 

Without  indulging  in  the  delusion  that  ite  progress  will 
be  a  "dress  parade" ;  and,  knowing  that  ite  program  carries 
in  ite  folds  that  acute  stage  of  all  evolutionary  process  known 
as  Revolution,  the  Industrial  Union  connects  with  the 
achievemente  of  the  Revolutionary  Fathers  of  the  country, 
the  first  to  frame  a  Constitution  that  denies  the  perpetuity 
of  their  own  social  system,  and  that,  by  ite  amendment  clause, 
legalizes  Revolution.  Connecting  with  that  great  achieve- 
ment of  the  American  Revolution ;  fully  aware  that  the  Rev- 
olution which  it  is  big  with  being  one  that  concerns  the 
masses  and  that  needs  the  masses  for  ite  execution, 
excludes  the  bare  idea  of  conspiracy,  and  imperatively 
commands  an  open  and  above-board  agitetional,  edu- 
cational, and  organizing  activity;  finally  ite  path 
lighted  by  the  beacon  tenet  of  Marx  that  none  but  the  bona 
fide  Union  can  set  on  foot  the  true  political  party  of  Labor; 
— Industrial  Unionism  bends  its  efforts  to  unite  the  working 
class  upon  the  political  oa  well  as  the  industrial  field,— on 


«  INDUSTRIAL  UNIOlHaiC 

the  industrial  field  because,  without  the  integrally  organized 
Union  of  the  working  class,  the  revolutionary  act  is  impos- 
sible; on  the  political  field,  because  on  none  other  can  be 
proclaimed  the  revolutionary  purpose,  without  consciousness 
of  which  the  Union  is  a  rope  of  sand. 

Industrial  Unionism  is  the  Socialist  Republic  in  the  maJc- 
ing;  and  the  goal  once  reached,  the  Industrial  Union  is  the 
Socialist  Republic  in  operation. 

Accordingly,  the  Industrial  Union  is,  at  once,  the  batter- 
ing ram  with  which  to  pound  down  the  foriress  of  capital- 
iam,  and  the  successor  of  the  capitalist  social  structure  itself. 


n. 

Industrialism  is  a  trefoil  that  constitutes  one  leaf ;  it  is  a 
term  that  embraces  three  domains,  closely  interdependent, 
and  all  three  requisite  to  the  whole.  The  three  domams  are 
Fortn,  Tactics  and  Goal.  The  Goal  is  the  substitution  of  the 
industrial  for  the  political  government;  another  term  for  the 
Socialist  Republic;  the  Tactics  are  the  unification  of  the  use- 
ful labor  of  the  land  on  the  political  as  well  as  the  economic 
field;  the  Form  concerns  the  structure  of  the  organization. 
Each  of  the  three  domains  covers  an  extensive  field,  being 
the  gathered  experience  of  the  Labor  or  Socialist  Movement 
It  is  next  to  impossible  to  handle  property  any  of  the  three 
departments  without  touching  the  others.  Unavoidably  they 
closely  dovetail  with  one  another. 

THE  MATTER  OF  FORM. 

In  the  matter  of  Form  or  Structure  Industrialism  is  a 
physical  crystallization  of  the  sociologic  principle  that  the 
proletariat  is  one.  From  the  fundamental  principle  of  the 
oneness  of  interests  of  the  proletariat  arises  the  ideal  to  be 
obtained— their  solidarity;  and  that  shatters  all  structures 
reared  upon  the  theory  of  Craft  Sovereignty.  It  shatters  that 
theory  as  completely  as,  upon  the  political  field.  State  Sover- 
eignty was  shattered  in  the  country.  It  does  so  for  parity  of 
reasoning.  Whatever  the  state  lines,  the  separate  states  are 
but  fractions  of  the  whole  nation.  Whatever  the  craft  lines, 
the  separate  crafts  are  but  fractions  of  the  whole  Proletariat. 
Consequently,  however  different  the  nature  of  the  occupa- 
tion, the  work  done,  and  the  conditions  of  work,  the  useful 
labor  of  the  land  is  one  nation,  hence,  must  be  organized  as 
CT"  vn*'on. 


•  INDUSTBIAL  UNIONISM 

The  industrialist  principle  of  one  union,  on  the  same 
ground  as  one  nation,  excludes,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  jel- 
ly-fish conception  of  oneness.  The  oneness  of  the  high  struc- 
ture of  the  human  being  is  a  different  oneness  from  that  of 
the  lower  jelly-fish.  As  the  structure  of  the  human  being 
implies  parts  and  co-ordination  of  parts,  so  does  the  struc- 
ture of  Industrialism,  a  concept  bom  of  the  higher  develop- 
ment of  modern  society,  imply  divisions  and  subdivisions. 
The  field  upon  v^rhich  Industrialism  operates  warrauts  the 
parallel  with  a  modem  army.  One  though  an  army  is,  it  has 
its  separate  divisions  and  subdivisions.  These  are  also  im- 
perative to  the  Industrialist  Army— it  also  has  and  must 
have  companies,  battalions,  regiments,  brigades,  divisions. 

HOW  INDUSTRIALISM  ORGANIZES. 

The  impariant  question  then  arises.  What  fact  traces  the 
Imes  that  axe  to  mark  these  several  parts  from  one  another? 
What  the  line  of  demarcation  is  among  the  several  parts  of 
the  Industrialist  Army  is  determined  by  the  facts  in  produc- 
tion. The  central  principles  in  the  determination  flow  from 
the  facts  that  dictate  the  form,  or  structure,  of  the  corps  des- 
ignated as  the  "Local  Industrial  Union,"  and  correctly  so 
designated,  seeing  that,  although  the  "Local  Industrial  Un- 
ion'' does  not  comprise  the  whole  organization,  but  is  only  a 
part  thereof,  nevertheless  its  stmcture  typifies  Industrialism. 

Does  the  same  fact,  which  traces  the  line  between  one  Lo- 
cal Industrial  Union  and  another  in  one  locality,  also  trace 
the  line  between  the  "Trade  and  Shop  Branches"?  It  does 
not.  The  fact  that  traces  the  line  between  one  Local  Indus- 
feial  Union  and  another  in  one  locality,  and  the  fact  that 
determines  tiie  boundaries  of  the  component  factors  of  tiie 
Local  Industrial  Union,  are  different.  What  facts  are  these  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  answers  the  question.  How  does 
Industrialism  organize? 

The  fact  that  traces  the  external  boundary  lines  of  the  Lo- 
cal Industrial  Union  is  the  output. 

Here  are  two  illustrations— one,  the  printing  shop,  a  con- 
cern which  turns  out  an  actual  product,  printed  matter;  the 
other,  the  trolley  line,  a  concem  which  does  not  turn'  out 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM  7 

any  actual  product,  but  fills  that  necessary  and  supplemen- 
tary function  in  production  which  consists  in  transportation. 
In  each  instance  the  output — ^printed  matter  in  one  case, 
transportation  in  the  other — draws  the  boundary  lines  of  the 
respective  Local  Industrial  Union. 

OUTPUT    DETERMINES. 

In  the  instance  of  the  printing  shop,  the  output  being 
printed  matter,  all  the  wage  workers,  whatever  their  special- 
ized occupation  may  be,  are,  in  that  locality,  engaged  in  the 
same  industry.  Being  so  engaged,  they  belong  in  one  print- 
ers' Local  Industrial  Union. 

In  the  instance  of  the  trolley  line,  the  output  being  trans- 
portation, all  the  wage  workers,  whatever  their  specialized 
occupation  may  be,  are  in  that  locality  engaged  in  the  same 
industry.  Being  so  engaged,  they  belong  in  one,  in  a  trac- 
tion Local  Industrial  Union. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  internal  construction  of  the  Lo- 
cal Industrial  Union,  an  objection  that  has  been  raised 
against  the  external  construction  of  the  Local  Industrial  Un- 
ion, must  be  here  considered. 

Compositors,  proofreaders,  etc.,  are  frequently  found  em- 
ployed in  other  than  establishments  the  output  of  which  is 
printed  matter;  they  are  found  employed  in  some  large  tex- 
tile concerns,  they  are  found  employed  in  electrical,  in  hotel, 
in  railroad,  and  other  establishments.  In  the  traction  indus- 
try there  are  electricians,  firemen,  etc.  At  the  same  time, 
electricians  and  firemen  are  found  employed  in  other  than 
establishments  the  output  of  which  is  transportation;  thc.v 
are  found  at  work  in  hotels,  in  foundries,  in  big  office  build- 
ings. And  so  all  along  the  line.  There  hardly  is  an  estab- 
lishment, yielding  a  certain  output,  which  does  not  employ 
occupations  that  contribute  to  some  other  output  in  some 
other  establishment. 

This  fact  has  been  seized  by  A.  F.  of  L.  craft  unionism  as 
a  proof  positive  of  the  "absurdity"  of  Industrialism.  "Think 
of  it,"  these  gentlemen  have  said  and  even  written,  "one 
time  a  compositor  is  a  'printer,'  another  time  he  is  a  'textile 
worker,'  in  another  place  he  is  an  'electrician,'  in  another 


s 


IXDUSTuIAL   UNIOXISM 


place  he  is  a  'restaurant  worker/  in  a  fifth    place   he   is    a 
*railroader';  as  to  electricians  and  firemen,  in  one  instance 
they  are  'traction  workers,'  in  another  *hotel  and  restaurant 
workers/  in  a  third  they  are  'foundrymen/  in  a  fourth  *ele- 
Tator  and  janitormen' !  How  lau<rhable !''  And  much  is  the 
mirth  these  gentry  have  indulged  in  on  that  score. 
CRAFT    VANITY    HARMFUL. 
For  one  thing,  the  foundation  for  the  seeming  absurdity 
is  *'Craft  Vanity,''—^  sentiment,  which  traced  to  its  source, 
18  a  denial  of  the  oneness  of  proletarian  interests.     For  an- 
other thing,  the  only  alternative  to  the  "absurdity  of  Indus- 
triahgm"  is  the  tragedy  of  "Craft  Sovereignty."  *  The  first 
objection  superficial  thinkers  may  be  disposed  to  dismiss  as 
^theoretical."    Some  reasoners  will  be  less  prone  to  sneer  at 
a  "theory."    In  this  matter,  however,  the  theory  can  be  left 
aside.     Its  practical  manifestation  is  "Craft  Sovereignty," 
and  the  practical  manifestations  of  that  should  be  shocTan^ 
mough  to  shock  the  laughter  out  of  the  most  mirthful  Crafit 
Unionist— provided,  of  course,  he  is  not  a  labor  lieutenant  of 
the  capitalist  class. 

What  the  practical  manifestations  of  "Craft  Sovereignty" 
are  have  often  enough  been  on  view  in  A.  F.  of  L.  strikes, 
when  one  craft  on  strike  in  an  industn-  would  be  left  in  the 
lurch  by  another  craft  in  the  same  industry,  which  makes 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  a  veritable  craft  scabbing  affair.  Such  things 
are  only  carried  further  at  the  A.  F.  of  L.  conventions  where 
whole  bunches  of  delegates  denounce  one  another  as  scabs. 
Such  a  spectacle  places  the  practical  issue,  or  alternative, 
squarely— cither  Industrialism,  despite  its  incidental  and  very 
limited  "laughableness/'  or  Craft  Unionism,  despite  its  per- 
manent and  chronically  corstitutional  scabbery— in  other 
words,  either  a  little  and  far-fetched  amuse  merit,  or  a  mass 
of  actual  tragedy..  Industrialism— that  form  of  economic 
organization  that  capitnlist  development  dictates— dictates 
the  output  as  the  controllinsr  fact  which  traces  the  external 
line  of  demarcation  for  the  Local  Industrial  Union. 

THE  TOOL  THE   DECIDING  FACTOR. 
What,  now,  determines  the  internal  lines  of  demarcation 
for  the  Local  Industrial  Union?    As  the  fact  in  prndvrfwn 


' INDUSTKIAL  UNIONISM  \) 

that  traces  the  boundary  line  of  the  Local  Industrial  Union 
is  the  output,  the  correlated  fact  in  production^  which  traces 
the  boundary  lines  between  the  component  factors  of  the  Lo- 
cal Industrial  Union,  that  is,  the  Trade  and  Shop  Branches, 
is  the  tooL 

From  all  that  precedes  it  fellows  that  the  Local  Industrial 
Union  is  a  unit  composed  of  a  variety  of  occupations. 

The  component  parts  of  the  Local  Industrial  Union  are 
the  Trade  and  Shop  Branches.  These  Branches  consist  of 
workers  engaged  in  specific  work;  within  each  Branch  be- 
long all  and  only  those  engaged  in  such  specific  work.  What 
characterizes  their  work  in  each  instance?  The  tool  used  by 
each. 

Sticking  to  the  two  illustrations— the  printing  industry 
and  the  traction  industry — used  before,  all  the  workers  who 
in  one  locality  contribute  to  the  output  printed  matter  be- 
long in  one  Local  Industrial  Union.  The  specific  occupation 
of  all  these  workers  is,  however,  not  the  same.  Some  are 
compositors,  others  stereotypers,  still  others  editors,  etc.  The 
specific  work  in  each  instance  is  different,  requiring  specific 
consideration.  Each  specific  occupation  requires  its  own  or- 
ganization— Branch.  The  tool  used  by  the  individual  in  his 
specific  work  determines  the  boundaries  of  his  Branch,  and 
the  Branch  to  which  he  belongs — the  workers  whose  tool  is 
the  type-case  or  machine  belong  in  a  compositors'  Branch; 
the  workers  whose  tool  is  the  stereotyping  apparatus,  in  a 
stereotypers'  Branch;  the  workers  whose  tool  is  the  pen  be- 
long in  a  writers'  or  editorial  Branch;  and  so  forth.  Like- 
wise with  the  traction  industry.  Different  being  the  specific 
occupations  of  the  workers  who  jointly  contribute  to  the  out- 
put transportation,  each  specific  occupation  has  its  own 
specific  business,  requiring  a  specific  Branch — the  workers 
whose  tool  is  the  motor  belong  in  a  motormen's  Branch; 
those  whose  tool  is  the  machinery  in  the  power-house  belong 
in  a  power  Branch;  and  so  forth.  All  the  Trade  and  Shop 
Branches  of  each  Local  Industrial  Union,  being  properly 
connected  by  respective  representative  bodies,  constitute  the 
local  unit   of   Industrialism.      With   the    Trade    and    Shop 


10 


INDUSTRIAL   UNIONISM 


Branches  there  is  order  within  the  Local  Industrial  Union; 
without  them  there  would  be  bedlam. 

For  the  completion  of  this  sketch  in  the  descending  line 
of  organization  there  remains  one  organism  to  consider — 
the  "Recruiting''  or  "Mixed  Local/'  This  organism  is  purely 
transitory.  Its  members  are  transient.  So  long  as  there  are 
not  enough  workers  in  any  one  specific  occupation  to  or- 
ganize a  Traxie  and  Shop  Branch  the  worker  is  temporarily 
housed  in  a  Recruiting  Local,  from  which  he  is  transferred 
to  a  Trade  and  Shop  Branch  of  his  industry,  just  as  soon  as 
there  are  enough  of  such  workers  to  constitute  such  a  Branch. 

IN   A   NUTSHELL. 

How  does  Industrialism  organize? 

From  the  sketch  rapidly  traced  above  the  answer  is,  in  the 
ascending  line: 

Ist  By  gathering  into  and  keeping  in  '"Recruiting  Lo- 
cals" the  individual  workers  of  whose  specific  occupation 
there  may  not  as  yet  be  enough  to  organize  a  "Trade  and 
Shop  Branch"; 

2nd.  By  gathering  into  '"Trade  and  Shop  Branches"  all 
the  workers  who  use  the  identical  tool. 

3rd.  By  gathering  into  "I.ocal  Industrial  Unions"  all  the 
several  "Trade  and  Shop  Branches"  whose  combined  work 
furnishes  a  given  output.  There  can  be  no  "TiOcal  Industrial 
Union"  without  at  least  two  "Trade  and  Shop  Branches." 

These  are  the  first  three  stages.  The  further  stages  in 
the  ascending  line,— Industrial  Councils,  National  Industri- 
al Unions,  and  Industrial  Departments— are  obvious.  Their 
structure,  hence  the  method  of  their  organization,  flows 
from  the  structure  and  reason  for  the  structure  of  the  '"Lo- 
cal Industrial  Union." 


INDUSTRIAL    UNIONISM 

By  EUGENE  V.  DEBS. 

(Chairman  Rozelle: — I  have  the  pleasure  now  to  introduce 
to  you  one  whom  you  all  know,  Eugene  V.  Debs.) 

There  is  inspiration  in  your  greeting  and  my  heart  opens 
wide  to  receive  it.  I  have  come  a  thousand  miles  to  join 
with  you  in  fanning  the  flames  of  the  proletarian  revolution. 
(Applause). 

Your  presence  here  makes  this  a  vitalizing  atmosphere  for 
a  labor  agitator.  I  can  feel  my  stature  increasing,  and  this 
means  that  you  are  growing,  for  all  my  strength  is  drawn 
from  you,  and  without  you  1  am  nothing. 

In  capitalist  society  you  are  the  lower  class;  the  capital- 
ists are  the  upper  class — because  they  are  on  your  backs; 
if  they  were  not  on  your  backs,  they  could  not  be  above 
you.     (Applause  and  laughter). 

Standing  in  your  presence,  I  can  see  in  your  gleaming 
eyes  and  in  your  glowing  faces  the  vanguard ;  I  can  hear  the 
tramp,  I  can  feel  the  thrill  of  the  social  revolution.  The 
working  class  are  waking  up.  (A  voice,  "you  bet").  They 
are  beginning  to  understand  that  their  economic  interests 
are  identical,  that  they  must  unite  and  act  together  econom- 
ically and  politically  and  in  every  other  way;  that  ©nly  by 
united  action  can  they  overthrow  the  capitalist  system  and 
emancipate  themselves  from  wage-slavery.     (Applause). 

I  have  said  that  in  capitalist  society  the  working  class 
are  the  lower  class;  they  have  always  been  the  lower  class. 
In  the  ancient  world  for  thousands  of  years  they  were  abject 
slaves;  in  the  Middle  Ages,  serfs;  in  modem  times,  wage- 
workers;  to  become  free  men  in  socialism  is  the  next  inevit- 
able phase  in  our  civilization.  (Applause).  The  working 
class  have  struggled  through  all  the  various  phases  of  their 
development,  and  they  are  to-day  engaged  in  the  last  stage 
of  the  animal  struggle  for  existence;  and  when  the  present 
revolution  has  run  its  course,  the  working  class  will  stand 
forth  the  sovereigns  of  this  earth. 

In  capitalist  society  the  working  man  is  not,  in  fact,  a 
man  at  all;  as  a  wage-worker,  he  is  simply  merchandise; 
he  is  bought  in  the  open  market  the  same  as  hair,  hides, 
salt,  or  any  other  form  of  merchandise.    The  very  termin- 


PAGINATION  BEGINS  AGAIN 


9  INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 

ology  of  the  capitalist  system  proves  that  he  is  not  a  m^xi 
in  any  sense  of  that  term. 

When  the  capitalist  needs  you  as  a  working  man  to  oper- 
ate his  machine,  he  does  not  advertise,  he  does  not  call  for 
men,  but  for  '*hands";  and  when  you  see  a  placard  posted 
"Fifty  hands  wanted,"  you  stop  on  the  instant;  you  kno^ 
ihat  that  means  YOU,  and  you  take  a  bee-line  for  the 
bureau  of  employment  to  offer  yourself,  in  evidence  of  the 
fact  that  you  are  a  '*hand."  When  the  capitalist  adver- 
tises for  hands,  that  is  what  he  wants.  He  would  be  in- 
sulted if  you  were  to  call  him  a  "hand."  He  has  his  capi- 
talist politician  tell  you,  when  your  vote  is  wanted,  that 
you  ought  to  be  very  proud  of  your  hands  because  they  are 
homy;  and  if  that  is  true,  he  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  his. 
(Laughter  and  applause). 

What  is  your  status  in  society  to-day?  You  are  a  humaa 
being,  a  wage-worker.  Here  you  stand  just  as  you  were 
created,  and  you  have  two  hands  that  represent  your  labor 
power;  but  you  do  not  work  and  why  not? — For  this  simple 
reason,  that  you  have  no  tools  with  which  to  work;  you 
cannot  compete  against  the  machinery  of  the  capitalist  with 
your  bare  hands;  you  cannot  work  unless  you  have  access  to 
it,  and  you  can  only  secure  access  to  it  by  selling  your  labor 
power,  that  is  to  say  your  energy,  your  vitality,  your  life 
itself,  to  the  capitalist  who  owns  the  tool  with  which  yon 
work,  and  without  which  you  are  idle  and  suffer  all  of  the 
ills  that  idleness  entails. 

In  the  evolution  of  capitalism,  society  has  been  divided 
mainly  into  two  economic  classes:  a  relatively  small  class 
of  capitalists  who  own  tools  in  the  form  of  great  machines 
they  did  not  make  and  cannot  use,  and  a  great  body  of  many 
millions  of  workers  who  did  make  these  tools  and  who  do 
use  them,  and  whose  very  lives  depend  upon  them,  yet 
who  do  not  own  them;  and  these  millions  of  wage-workers, 
producers  of  wealth,  are  forced  into  the  labor  market,  in 
competition  with  each  other,  disposing  of  their  labor  power 
to  the  capitalist  class,  in  consideration  of  just  enough  of 
what  they  produce  to  keep  them  in  working  order.  They 
are  exploited  of  the  greater  share  of  what  their  labor  pro- 
duces, so  that  while,  upon  the  one  hand,  they  can  produc* 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM.  9 

in  great  abundance,  upon  the  other,  they  can  consume  but 
that  share  of  the  product  that  their  meagre  wage  will  buy; 
and  every  now  and  then  it  follows  that  they  have  pro- 
duced more  than  can  be  consumed  in  the  present  system, 
and  then  they  are  displaced  by  the  very  products  of  their 
own  labor;  the  mills  and  shops  and  mines  and  quarries  in 
which  they  are  employed,  close  down,  the  tools  are  locked 
up  and  they  are  locked  out,  and  they  find  themselves  idle 
and  helpless  in  the  shadow  of  the  very  abundance  their 
labor  has  created.  There  is  no  hope  for  them  in  this  sys- 
tem. They  are  beginning  to  realize  this  fact,  and  so  they 
are  beginning  to  organize  themselves;  they  are  no  longer 
relying  upon  some  one  else  to  emancipate  them,  but  they 
are  making  up  their  minds  to  depend  upon  themselves  and 
to  organize  for  their  own  emancipation. 

Too  long  have  the  workers  of  the  world  waited  for  some 
Moses  to  lead  them  out  of  bondage.  He  has  not  come;  he 
never  will  come.  I  would  not  lead  you  out  if  I  could;  for 
if  you  could  be  led  out,  you  could  be  led  back  again.  (Ap- 
plause). I  would  have  you  make  up  your  minds  that  there 
is  nothing  that  you  cannot  do  for  yourselves.  You  do  not 
need  tJhe  capitalist.  He  could  not  exist  an  instant  without 
you.  You  would  just  begin  to  live  without  him.  (Laughter 
and  prolonged  applause).  You  do  everything  and  he  has 
everything;  and  some  of  you  imagine  that  if  it  were  not 
for  him  you  would  have  no  work.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
does  not  employ  you  at  all;  you  employ  him  to  take  from 
you  what  you  produce,  and  he  faithfully  sticks  to  his  task. 
If  you  can  stand  it,  he*  can;  and  if  yon  don't  change  this 
relation,  I  am  sure  he  won't.  You  make  the  automobile,  he 
rides  in  it.  If  it  were  not  for  you,  he  would  walk ;  and  if 
it  were  not  for  him,  you  would  ride. 

The  capitalist  politician  tells  you  on  occasion  that  yon 
are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  and  if  you  are,  you  had  better  begin 
by  salting  down  the  capitalist  class. 

The  revolutionary  movement  of  the  working  class  will 
date  from  the  year  1905,  from  the  organization  of  the  IN- 
DUSTRIAL WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD.  (Prolonged 
applause).  Economic  solidarity  is  to-day  the  supreme  need 
of  the  working  class.     The  old  form  of  unionism  has  long 


■^ma 


*  INDUSTUIAL  UNIONISM. 

since  fulfilled  its  mission  and  outlived  its  usefulness,  and 
the  hour  has  struck  for  a  change. 

The  old  unionism  is  organized  upon  the  basis  of  the 
identity  of  interests  of  the  capitalist  and  working  classes.  It 
spends  its  time  and  energy  trying  to  harmonize  these  two  es- 
sentially  antagonistic  classes ;  and  so  this  unionism  has  at  its 
head  a  harmonizing  board  called  the  Civic  Federation.  This 
federation  consists  of  three  parts;  a  part  representing  the 
capitalist  class;  a  part  supposed  to  represent  the  working 
class  and  still  another  part  that  is  said  to  represent  the 
public."  The  capitalists  are  represented  by  that  great  union 
labor  champion,  August  Belmont.  (laughter  and  hisses). 
1  he  working  class  is  represented  by  Samuel  Gompers,  the 
president  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  (hisses  and 
c^r  sick  him/')  and  the  public,  by  Grover  Cleveland. 
(Laughter). 

Car  you  imagine  a  fox  and  goose  peace  congress?  Just 
fancy  uch  a  meeting,  the  goose  lifting  its  wings  in  benedic- 
tion,  c.jd  the  fox  whispering  "Let  us  prey." 

The  C?ivic  Federation  has  been  organized  for  the  one 
purpose  of  prolonging  the  age-long  sleep  of  the  working  class. 
I  heir  supreme  purpose  is  to  keep  you  from  waking  up.  (A 
voice:     "They  can't  do  it.")  6     H      l 

The  Industrial  Workers  has  been  organized  for  an  opposite 
purpose,  and  its  representatives  come  in  your  presence  to 
tell  you  that  there  can  be  no  peace  between  you,  the  work- 
mg  class,  and  the  capitalist  class  who  exploit  vou  of  what 
.you  produce;  that  as  workers,  you  have  economic  interests 
apart  from  and  opposed  to  their  interests,  and  that  you 
must  organize  by  and  for  yourselves;  and  that  if  you  are 
intelligent  enough  to  understand  these  interests,  you  will 
sever  your  relations  with  the  old  unions  in  which  you  are 
divided  and  sub-divided,  and  join  the  Industrial  Workers, 
in  which  all  are  organized  and  united  upon  the  basis  of  the 
class  struggle.     (Applause). 

The  Industrial  Workers  is  organized,  not  to  conciliate,  but 
to  fight  the  capitalist  class.  We  have  no  object  in  conceal- 
msr  any  part  of  our  mission;  we  would  have  it  perfectly 
understood.  We  deny  that  there  is  anything  in  common  be- 
tween workmgmen  and  capitalists.     We  insist  that  working- 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


men  must  organize  to  get  rid  of  capitalists  and  make  them- 
selves the  masters  of  the  tools  with  which  they  work,  freely 
employ  themselves,  secure  to  themselves  all  they  produce, 
4Uid  enjoy  to  the  full  the  fruit  of  their  labors.     (Applause). 

The  old  union  movement  is  not  only  organized  upon  the 
l)asi8  of  the  identity  of  interests  of  the  exploited  and  ex- 
ploiting classes,  but  it  divides  instead  of  uniting  the  workers, 
and  there  are  thousands  of  unions,  more  or  less  in  conflict, 
used  against  one  another;  and  so  long  as  these  countless 
unions  occupy  the  field,  there  will  be  no  substantial  unity  of 
the  working  class.     (Applause). 

And  here  let  me  say  that  the  most  zeaious  supporter  of 
the  old  union  is  the  capitalist  himself.  August  Belmont, 
president  of  the  Civic  Federation,  takes  special  pride  in  de- 
claring himself  a  "union  man"  (laughter) ;  but  he  does  not 
mean  by  that  that  he  is  an  Industrial  Worker,  that  is  not 
the  kind  of  a  union  he  means.  He  means  the  impotent  old 
union  that  Mr.  Gompers  and  Mr.  Mitchell  lead,  the  kind  that 
keeps  the  working  class  divided  so  that  the  capitalist  system 
may  be  perpetuated  indefinitely. 

For  thirty  years  I  have  been  connected  with  the  organized 
labor  movement.  I  have  long  since  been  made  to  realize  that 
the  pure  and  simple  union  can  do  nothing  for  the  working 
class ;  I  have  had  some  experience  and  know  whereof  I  speak. 

The  craft  union  seeks  to  establish  its  own  petty  supremacy. 
Craft  division  is  fatal  to  class  unity.  To  organize  along 
craft  lines  means  to  divide  the  working  class  and  make  it 
the  prey  of  the  capitalist  class.  The  working  class  can  only 
l)e  unionized  efficiently  along  class  lines;  and  so  the  In- 
dustrial Workers  has  been  organized,  not  to  isolate  the  crafts 
but  to  unite  the  whole  working  class.     (Applause). 

The  working  class  has  had  considerable  experience  during 
the  past  few  years.  In  every  conflict  between  labor  and  cap- 
ital, labor  has  been  defeated.  Take  the  leading  strikes  in 
their  order,  and  you  will  find  that,  without  a  single  excep- 
tion, the  organized  workers  have  been  defeated,  and  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  them  have  lost  their  jobs,  and  many  of 
them  have  become  "scabs."  Is  there  not  something  wrong 
with  a  unionism  in  which  the  workers  are  always  worsted? 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


Let  me  review  hurriedly  some  of  this  history  of  the  past  few 
years. 

I  have  seen  the  conductors  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington. 
&  Quincy  Railroad,  organized  in  a  craft  union,  take  the 
places  of  the  striking  union  locomotive  engineers  on  the  same 
system.  | 

I  have  seen  the  employes  of,  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  I 
Railway,  organized  in  their  several  craft  unions,  stand  by 
the  corporation  as  a  unit,  totally  wiping  out  the  union  teleg- 
raphers, thirteen  hundred  of  them  losing  their  jobs. 

I  have  seen  these  same  craft  unions,  just  a  little  while 
ago,  on  the  Northern  Pacific  and  Great  Northern  systems — 
I  have  seen  them  unite  with  the  corporation  to  crush  out 
the  telegraphers'  union,  and  defeat  the  strikers,  their  own 
co-unionists  and  fellow  employes. 

Just  a  few  weeks  ago,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  the  switch- 
men on  the  Grand  Trunk  went  out  on  strike.  AH  their  fel- 
low unionists  remained  at  work  and  faithfully  served  the 
corporation  until  the  switchmen  were  defeated,  and  now  those 
union  switchmen  are  scattered  about  looking  for  jobs. 

Til'  machinists  were  rocently  on  strike  in  Chicago.  They 
went  nt  in  a  hy^\'  undt  r  the  direcHon  of  their  craft  union. 
Tho^  fellow  unionists  all  roma'Tictl  at  work  until  the  ma- 
s  were  conipl'^toly  defeated   and  now  their  organization 


C'l 


t,:. 


Hi  '■        city  is  r^n  i]\c  verge  of  collapse. 

•  re  has  been  a  ceaseless  repetition  cd  this  form  of 
80^'  '  \<r  of  one  craft  union  upon  another  until  the  working 
n^  f  his  eyes  are  open,  is  bounrl  to  see  that  this  kind  of 
ui        sm  is  a  curse  and  not  a  benefit  to  the  working  class. 

1  American  Federation  of  Labor  does  not  learn  by  ex- 
perier'ce.  They  recently  held  their  annual  convention,  and 
they  passed  the  same  old  stereotyped  resolutions;  they  are 
goinjx  to  petition  Congress  to  restrict  the  power  of  the  courts ; 
that  is  to  say,  they  are  goinsr  to  once  more  petition  a  capi- 
talist Congress  to  restrict  the  power  of  capitalist  courts. 
That  is  as  if  a  flock  of  sheep  were  to  petition  a  lot  of  wolves 
to  extract  their  own  fangs.  They  have  passed  these  resolu- 
tions over  and  over  again.  They  have  been  totally  fruitless 
and  they  will  continue  to  be. 

What  good  came  to  the  working  class  from  this  conven- 


INDUBTEIAL  UNIONISM. 


tion?    Put  your  finger  upon  a  single  thing  they  did  that 
will  be  of  any  real  benefit  to  the  workers  of  the  country ! 

You  have  had  some  experience  here  in  New  York.     You. 
have  plenty  of  unionism  here,  such  as  it  is,  yet  there  is  not 
a  city  in  the  country  in  which  the  workers  are  less  organized 
than  they  are  here  in  New  York.     It  was  in  March  last  thai 
you  had  here  an  exhibition  of  pure  and  simple  unionism. 
You  saw  about  six  thousand  craft  union  men  go  out  on  strike,. 
and  you  saw  their  fellow  unionists  remain  at  work  loyally 
until  all  the  strikers  were  defeated  and  sacrificed.     Here  you 
have  an  object  lesson  that  is  well  calculated  to  set  you  think- 
ing, and  this  is  all  I  can  hope  to  do  by  coming  here,  set  you 
thinking,  and  for  yourselves;  for  when  you  begin  to  think, 
you  will  soon  begin  to  act  for  yourselves.     You  will  then 
sever  your  relations  with   capitalist  unions  and  capitalist 
parties  (applause),  and  you  will  begin  the  real  work  of  or- 
ganizing your  class,  and  that  is  what  we  of  the  Industrial 
Workers  have  engaged  to  do.     We  have  a  new  mission.     That 
mission  is  not  merely  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of 
the  working  class,  but  the  complete  emancipation  of  that 
class  from  slavery.     (Applause). 

The  Industrial  Workers  is  going  to  do  all  for  the  working- 
class  that  can  be  done  in  the  capitalist  system,  but  while 
it  is  engaged  in  doing  that,  its  revolutionary  eye  will  be 
fixed  upon  the  goal ;  and  there  will  be  a  great  difference  be- 
tween a  strike  of  revolutionary  workers  and  a  strike  of  ig- 
norant trade  unionists  who  but  vaguely  understand  what  they 
want  and  do  not  know  how  to  get  that     (Applause). 

The  Industrial  Workers  is  less  than  six  months  old,  and 
already  has  a  round  hundred  thousand  of  dues-paying  mem- 
bers. (Applause).  This  splendid  achievement  has  no  par- 
allel in  the  annals  of  organized  labor.  From  every  direction. 
come  the  applications  for  charters  and  for  organizers,  and 
when  the  delegates  of  this  revolutionary  economic  organiza- 
tion meet  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  next  year,  it  will  be  the 
greatest  convention  that  ever  met  in  the  United  States  m  the 
interest  of  the  working  class.     (Apnlause). 

This  organization  has  a  world-wide  mission ;  it  makes  its. 
iippeal  directly  to  the  working  class.  It  asks  no  favors  from 
capitalists. 


8 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


9 


No  organization  of  working  men  has  ever  been  so  flagrant- 
ly misTepresented  by  the  capitalist  press  as  has  been  the  In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World ;  every  delegate  to  the  Chicago 
convention  will  bear  testimony  to  this  fact;  and  this  is  as  it 
■should  be;  the  capitalist  press  is  the  mouthpiece  of  the  cap- 
italist class,  and  the  very  fact  that  the  capitalist  press  is  the 
organ,  virtually,  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  is  in 
itself  sufficient  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  working  class. 

If  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  were  not  in  alliance 
with  the  capitalist  class,  the  capitalist  press  would  not  pour 
its  fulsome  eulogy  upon  it 

This  press  has  not  one  friendly  word  for  the  Industrial 
Workers,  not  one,  and  we  do  not  expect  it  to  have.  These 
papers  of  the  plutocrats  know  us  and  we  know  them  (ap- 
plause) ;  between  us  there  is  no  misunderstanding. 

The  workers  of  the  country  (the  intelligent  ones  at  least) 
Tcadily  see  the  difference  between  revolutionary  and  reaction- 
ary unionism,  and  that  is  why  thy  are  deserting  the  old  and 
joining  the  new ;  that  is  why  the  Industrial  Workers  is  build- 
ing up  so  rapidly;  that  is  why  there  is  such  a  widespread 
demand  for  organizers  and  for  literature  and  for  all  other 
means  of  building  up  this  class-conscious  economic  organiza- 
tion.    (Applause). 

As  I  have  said,  the  Industrial  Workers  begin  by  declaring 
that  there  is  nothing  in  common  between  capitalists  and 
w^age-workers. 

The  capitalists  own  the  tools  they  do  not  use,  and  the 
workers  use  the  tools  they  do  not  own. 

The  capitalists,  who  own  the  tools  that  the  working  class 
use  appropriate  to  themselves  what  the  working  class  produce, 
and  this  accounts  for  the  fact  that  a  few  capitalists  become 
fabulously  rich  while  the  toiling  millions  remain  in  poverty, 
ignorance  and  dependence. 

Let  me  make  this  point  perfectly  clear  for  the  benefit  of 
ihose  who  have  not  thought  it  out  for  themselves.  Andrew 
Carnegie  is  a  type  of  the  capitalist  class.  He  owns  the  tools 
^th  which  steel  is  produced.  These  tools  are  used  by  many 
thousands  of  working  men.  Andrew  Carnegie,  who  owns 
ihepe  tools,  has  absolutely  nothing:  to  do  with  the  production 
of  steel.     He  may  be  in  Scotland,  or  where  he  will,  the  pro- 


duction of  steel  goes  forward  just  the  same.  His  mills  at 
Pittsburg,  Duquesne  and  Homestead,  where  these  tools  are 
located,  are  thronged  with  thousands  of  tool-less  wage-work- 
ers, who  work  day  and  night,  in  winter's  cold  and  summer's 
heat,  who  endure  all  the  privations  and  make  all  the  sacri- 
fices of  health  and  limb  and  life,  producing  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  tons  of  steel,  yet  not  having  an  interest,  even 
the  slightest,  in  the  product.  Carnegie,  who  owns  the  tools, 
appropriates  the  product,  and  the  workers,  in  exchange  for 
their  labor  power,  receive  a  wage  that  serves  to  keep  them  in 
producing  order;  and  the  more  industrious  they  are,  and  the 
more  they  produce,  the  worse  they  are  off;  for  the  sooner 
they  have  produced  more  than*  Carnegie  can  get  rid  of  in  the 
markets,  then  the  tool  houses  are  shut  down  and  the  workers 
are  locked  out  in  the  cold. 

This  is  a  beautiful  arrangement  for  Mr.  Carnegie;  he 
does  not  want  a  change,  and  so  he  is  in  favor  of  the  Civic 
Federation,  and  a  leading  member  of  it;  and  he  is  doing 
what  he  can  to  induce  you  to  think  that  this  ideal  relation 
ought  to  be  maintained  forever. 

Now,  what  is  true  of  steel  production  is  true  of  every  other 
department  of  industrial  activity ;  you  belong  to  the  millions 
who  have  no  tools,  who  cannot  work  without  selling  your 
labor  power,  and  when  you  sell  that,  you  have  got  to  deliver 
it  in  person ;  you  cannot  send  it  to  the  mill,  you  have  got 
to  carry  it  there ;  you  are  inseparable  from  your  labor  power. 

You  have  got  to  go  to  the  mill  at  7  in  the  morning  and 
work  until  6  in  the  evening,  producing,  not  for  yourself, 
but  for  the  capitalist  who  owns  the  tools  you  made  and  use,, 
and  without  which  you  are  almost  as  helpless  as  if  you  had 
no  arms. 

This  fundamental  fact  in  modern  industry  you  must  rec- 
ognize, and  you  must  organize  upon  the  basis  of  this  fact; 
you  must  appeal  to  your  class  to  join  the  union  that  is  the 
true  expression  of  your  economic  interests,  and  this  union 
must  be  large  enough  to  embrace  you  all,  and  such  is  the  In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World. 

Every  man  and  every  woman  who  works  for  wages  is 
eligible  to  membership. 

Organized  into  various  departments,  when  you  join  yon 


10 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


become  a  member  of  the  department  that  represents  your 
'Craft,  or  occupation,  whatever  it  may  be;  and  when  you  have 
«  grievance,  your  department  has  supervision  of  it;  and  if 
jou  fail  to  adjust  it  in  that  department,  you  are  not  limited 
to  your  craft  alone  for  support,  but,  if  necessary,  all  the 
jorkers  in  all  other  departments  will  unite  solidly  in  your 
defense  to  the  very  last.     (Applause). 

41.  i//  P^^^  "?  "^"^^^  industry.  The  workers,  under 
the  old  form  of  unionism,  are  parceled  out  to  a  score  or  more 
of  unions.  Craft  division  incites  craft  jealousy  and  so  they 
are  more  or  less  in  conflict  with  each  other,  and  the  em- 
ployer constructively  takes  advantage  of  this  fact,  and  that 
18  why  he  favors  pure  and  simple  unionism. 

It  were  better  for  the  workers  who  wear  craft  fetters  if 
they  were  not  organized  at  all,  for  then  they  could  and  would 
spontaneously  ^  out  on  strike  together;  but  they  cannot  do 
this  in  craft  unionism,  for  certain  crafts  bind  themselves  up 
in  craft  agreements,  and  after  they  have  done  this,  they  are 
at  the  mercy  of  the  capitalist;  and  when  their  fellow  union- 

itl  L^rJl  ^^^"^  ^^^  ^^^'  *^^y  «^^^  ^^^  ^e^  convenient 
excuse  that  they  cannot  help  them,  that  they  must  preserve 

the  sanctity  of  the  contract  they  have  made  with  the  emplcver. 

This  so^alled  contract  is  regarded  as  of  vastly  more  im- 

the^sdves    ""  ^^^'  *^^  ""^"^  ^'""^  ""^  ^^  workingmen 

^o^\t  """"i*  ^°*f^^  that  certain  departments  shall  so  at- 
tach  themselves   to  the  capitalist  employers.     We   purpose 

JZl  "  ^•^'^f^'\'"  ^'  "^S«"^^^^'  «"^  i^  there  isTnv 
agreement.  It  will  embrace  them  all;  and  if  there  is  anV 

Tiolation  of  the  agreement,  in  the  case  of  a  single  emplove, 

]t  at  once  becomes  the  concern  of  all.     (Applause).     That 

IS  unionism   industrial  unionism,  in  which  all  of  the  workers, 

totally  regardless  of  occupation,  are  united  compactly  within 

the  one  organization,  so  that  at  all  times  they  can  act  io^ 

t1,  J-""!   w'^'i^''^^'^^ '"•     ^t  ''  ^I^^  this  basis  that  the 
Industrial   Workers   of  the  World   is  organized.     It   is   in 
this  spirit  and  with  this  object  in  view  that  it  makes  its  ap- 
peal to  the  working  class. 

Then,  again,  the  revolutionary  economic  organization  has 
%  new  and  important  function  which  has  never  once  hpon 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


11 


thought  of  in  the  old  union,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
old  union  intends  that  the  wage  system  shall  endure  forever. 

The  Industrial  Workers  declares  that  the  workers  must 
make  themselves  the  masters  of  the  tools  with  which  they 
work;  and  so  a  very  important  function  of  this  new  union 
is  to  teach  the  workers,  or,  rather,  have  them  teach  them- 
selves the  necessity  of  fitting  themselves  to  take  charge  of 
the  industries  in  which  they  are  employed  when  they  are 
wrested,  as  they  will  be,  from  their  capitalist  masters.  (Ap- 
plause). 

So  when  you  join  the  Industrial  Workers  you  feel  the  thrill 
of  a  new  aspiration;  you  are  no  longer  a  blind,  dumb  wage- 
slave.  You  begin  to  understand  your  true  and  vital  relation 
to  your  fellow-workers.  In  the  Industrial  Workers  you  are 
co-related  to  all  other  workers  in  the  plant,  and  thus  you 
develop  the  embryonic  structure  of  the  co-operative  com- 
monwealth.    (Applause). 

The  old  unionism  would  have  you  contented.  We  Indus- 
trial Workers  are  doing  what  we  can  to  increase  your  dis- 
content. We  would  have  you  rise  in  revolt  against  wage- 
slavery.  The  working  man  who  is  contented  to-day  is  truly 
a  pitiable  object.     (Applause). 

Victor  Hugo  once  said:  "Think  of  a  smile  in  chains," — 
that  is  a  working  man  who,  under  the  influence  of  the  Civic 
Federation,  is  satisfied  with  his  lot;  he  is  glad  he  has  a 
master,  has  some  one  to  serve;  for,  in  his  ignorance,  he 
imagines  that  he  is  dependent  upon  the  master. 

The  Industrial  Workers  is  appealing  to  the  working  class 
to  develop  their  latent  powers  and  above  all,  their  capacity 
for  clear  thinking. 

You  are  a  working  man  and  you  have  a  brain  and  if  you 
do  not  use  it  in  your  own  interests,  you  are  guilty  of  high 
trecson  to  your  manhood.     (Applause). 

It  is  for  the  very  reason  that  you  do  not  use  your  brain 
in  your  interests  that  you  are  compelled  to  deform  your 
body  in  the  interests  of  your  master. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  capitalist  is  on  your  back; 
he  furnishes  the  mouth,  you  the  hands;  he  consumes,  you 
produce.  That  is  why  be  runs  largely  to  stomach  and  von 
to  hands.     ^  Laughter  >. 


12 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


13 


U 


I  would  not  be  a  capitalist;  I  would  be  a  man;  you  can* 
not  be  both  ai  the  same  time.     (Applause). 

"he  capitalist  exists  by  exploitation,  lives  out  of  the  labor^ 
tliitL  is  to  say  the  life,  of  the  working  man;  consumes  him^ 
an<i  his  code  of  morals  and  standard  of  ethics  justify  it  and 
th      proves  that  capitalism  is  cannibalism.     (Applause). 

-  man,  honest,  just,  high-minded,  would  scorn  to  live  out 
of  i  lie  sweat  and  sorrow  of  his  fellow  man — by  preying  upon 
his  weaker  brother. 

We  propose  to  destroy  the  capitalist  and  save  the  man. 
(Applause).  We  want  a  system  in  which  the  worker  shall 
get  what  he  produces  and  the  capitalist  shall  produce  what 
he  gets.     (Applause).     That  is  a  square  deal. 

The  prevailing  lack  of  unity  implies  the  lack  of  class  con- 
sciousness. The  workers  do  not  yet  understand  that  they 
are  <mgaged  in  a  class  struggle,  that  they  must  unite  their 
cla^s  and  get  on  the  right  side  of  that  struggle  economically, 
politically  and  in  every  other  way— (applause),  strike  to- 
gether, vote  together  and,  if  necessary,  fight  together.  (Pro- 
longed applause). 

The  capitalist  and  the  leader  of  the  pure  and  simple  union 
do  what  they  can  to  wipe  out  the  class  lines;  they  do  not  want 
you  to  recognize  the  class  struggle ;  they  contrive  to  keep  you 
divided,  and  as  long  as  you  are  divided,  you  will  remain 
where  you  are,  robbed  and  helpless. 

When  you  unite  and  act  together,  the  world  is  youra. 
(Prolonged  applause). 

The  fabled  Samson,  shorn  of  his  locks,  the  secret  of  his 
power,  was  the  sport  and  prey  of  the  pygmies  that  tormented 
him.  The  modern  working  class,  shorn  of  their  tools,  the 
secret  of  their  power,  are  at  the  mercy  of  a  small  class  who 
exploit  them  of  what  they  produce  and  then  hold  them  in 
contempt  because  of  their  slavery. 

No  master  ever  had  the  slightest  respect  for  his  slave  any 
more  than  any  slave  ever  had  the  least  real  love  for  his  master. 

Between  these  two  classes  there  is  an  irrepressible  conflict, 
and  we  Industrial  Workers  are  pointing  it  out  that  vou  may 
see  it,  that  you  may  get  on  the  right  side  of  it,  that  you  may 
get  together  and  emancipate  yourselves  from  every  form  of 
servitude.  —  * 


r. 


It  can  be  done  in  no  other  way ;  but  a  bit  of  sober  reason- 
ing will  convince  you  workers  of  this  fact. 

It  is  so  simple  that  a  child  can  see  it.  Why  can't  you? 
You  can  if  you  will  think  for  yourselves  and  see  for  your- 
selves. But  you  will  not  do  this  if  you  were  taught  in  the 
old  union  school ;  you  will  still  look  to  someone  else  to  lead 
that  you  may  follow ;  for  you  are  trained  to  follow  the  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind.  You  have  been  betrayed  over  and  over 
again  ,and  there  will  be  no  change  until  you  make  up  your 
minds  to  think  and  see  and  act  for  yourselves. 

I  would  not  have  you  blindly  walk  into  the  Industrial 
Workers;  if  I  had  sufficient  influence  or  power  to  draw  you 
into  it,  I  would  not  do  it.  I  would  have  you  stay  where  you 
are  until  you  can  see  your  way  clear  to  join  it  of  your  own 
accord.  It  is  your  organization;  it  is  composed  of  your  class; 
it  is  committed  to  the  interests  of  your  class;  it  is  going  to 
fight  for  your  class,  for  your  whole  class,  and  continue  the 
fight  until  your  class  is  emancipated.     (Applause). 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  opposition  to  this  organization. 
The  whole  capitalist  class  and  all  their  labor  lieutenants  are 
against  it  (applause)  ;  and  there  is  an  army  of  them,  and  all 
their  names  are  on  the  pay-roll  and  expense  account.  They 
all  hold  salaried  positions,  and  are  looking  out  for  themseNes. 

When  the  working  class  unite,  there  will  be  a  lot  of  jobless 
labor  leaders.     (Applause). 

In  many  of  these  craft  unions  they  have  it  so  arranged  that 
the  rank  and  file  do  not  count  for  any  more  than  if  they  were 
so  many  sheep.  In  the  railroad  organizations,  for  instance, 
if  the  whole  membership  vote  to  go  out  on  strike,  they  can- 
not budge  without  the  official  sanction  of  the  Grand  Chief. 
His  word  outweighs  that  of  the  entire  membership.  In  the 
light  of  this  extraordinary  fact,  is  it  strange  that  the  work- 
ers are  often  betrayed?  Is  it  strange  that  they  continue  at 
the  mercy  of  their  exploiters? 

Haven't  they  had  quite  enough  of  this?  Isn't  it  time 
for  them  to  take  an  inventory  of  their  own  resources? 

If  you  are  a  working  man,  suppose  you  look  yourself  over, 
just  once ;  take  an  invoice  of  your  mental  stock  and  see  what 
you  have.  Do  not  accent  my  word;  do  not  depend  upon 
anybody  but  yourself.    Think  it  out  for  yourself ;  and  if  vou 


if  if  i 


14 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


do,  I  am  quite  certain  that  you  wiU  join  the  organization  that 
represents  your  class  (applause) ;  the  organization  that  ha« 
room  for  all  your  class ;  the  organization  that  appeals  to  you 
to  develop  your  own  brain,  to  rely  upon  yourself  and  be  a 
man  among  men.  And  that  is  what  the  working  class  have 
to  do,  cultivate  self-reliance  and  think  and  act  for  them- 
selves; and  that  IS  what  they  are  stimulated  to  do  in  the  In- 
dustrial Workers. 

We  have  great  hope  and  abiding  faith  for  we  know  that 
each  day  will  bring  us  increasing  numbers,  influence  and 
power;  and  this  notwithstanding  all  the  opposition  that  can 
be  arrayed  against  us. 

We  know  that  the  principles  of  the  Industrial  Workers 
are  right  and  that  its  ultimate  triumph  is  assured  beyond 
the  question  of  a  doubt;  and  if  you  believe  in  its  conquerin«f 
mission,  then  we  ask  you  to  be  true  enough  to  yourselv^ 
and  your  class  to  join  it;  and  when  vou  join  it  you  will  have 
a  rluty  to  perform  and  that  duty  wilfbe  to  go  out  among   the 
^     u-ganized  and  bring  them  into  the  ranks  and  help  in  this 
at  work  of  education  and  organization,  without  which  the 
rkmg  class  is  doomed  to  continued  ignorance  and  slavery. 
arJ  Marx    the  profound  economic  philosopher,  who  will 
^Tiownm  future  as  the  great  emancipator,  uttered  the  in- 
inng  shibboleth  a  half  century  ago:  '^orkingmen  of  all 
untries  unite;  you  have  nothing  to  lose  but  your  chains: 
•u  have  a  world  to  gain." 

You  workers  are  the  only  class  essential  to  society;  aH 

hers  can  be  spared,  but  without  vou  society  would  ^rish. 

ou  produce  the  wealth,  you  support  government,  you  create 

m  ^i^^^  civilization.     You  ought  to  be,  cai  be  and 

>llbe  the  masters  of  the  earth.     (Great  applause). 

oK     i/i-  "^  Z""^-  ^^  ^eP^n^ent  upon  a  capitalist?    Why 

V    \^  this  capitalist  own  a  tool  he  cannot  use?    And  why 

pnould  not  you  own  the  tool  you  have  to  use ^ 

ma^IT  ?i^  '"^  T'^  "^^^^  **^^*  ^^^'^^  everywhere  has  been 
made  by  t he  working  class,  and  is  set  and  kept  in  operation 

nLloLT  ""^  ""^T'  ^°^  ]^J^^  ^^"^^^  ^^«^«  <^^  ^ake  and 
operate  this  marveloijs  wealth-producins:  machinery,  they  can 
also  develop  the  intelligence  to  make  themselves  the  misters 
Of  this  machinery  (applause),  and  operate  it  not  to  turn  out 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


15 


millionaires,  but  to  produce  wealth  in  abundance  for  them- 
selves. 

You  cannot  afford  to  be  contented  with  your  lot ;  you  have 
a  brain  to  develop  and  a  manhood  to  sustain.  You  ought 
to  have  some  aspiration  to  be  free. 

Suppose  you  do  have  a  job,  and  that  you  can  get  enough 
to  eat  and  clothes  enough  to  cover  your  body,  and  a  place  to 
sleep;  you  but  exist  upon  the  animal  plane;  your  very  life 
is  suspended  by  a  slender  thread ;  you  don't  know  what  hour 
a  machine  may  be  invented  to  displace  you,  or  you  may 
offend  your  economic  master,  and  your  job  is  gone.  You  go 
to  work  early  in  the  morning  and  you  work  all  day;  you  go 
to  your  lodging  at  night,  tired;  you  throw  your  exhausted 
body  upon  a  bed  of  straw  to  recuperate  enough  to  go  back 
to  the  factory  and  repeat  the  same  dull  operation  the  next 
day,  and  the  next,  and  so  on  and  on  to  the  dreary  end;  and 
in  some  respects  you  are  not  so  well  off  as  was  the  chattel 
slave.  He  had  no  fear  of  losing  his  job ;  he  was  not  black- 
listed; he  had  food  and  clothing  and  shelter;  and  now  and 
then,  seized  with  a  desire  for  freedom,  he  tried  to  run  away 
from  his  master.  You  do  not  try  to  run  away  from  yours. 
He  doesn't  have  to  hire  a  policeman  to  keep  an  eye  on  you. 
When  you  run,  it  is  in  the  opposite  direction,  when  the 
bell  rings  or  the  whistle  blows. 

You  are  as  much  subject  to  the  command  of  the  capitalist 
as  if  you  were  his  property  under  the  law.  You  have  got 
to  go  to  his  factory  because  you  have  got  to  work;  he  is 
the  master  of  your  job,  and  you  cannot  work  without  his 
consent,  and  he  only  gives  this  on  condition  that  you  sur- 
render to  him  all  you  produce  except  what  is  necessary  to 
keep  you  in  running  order. 

The  machine  you  work  with  has  to  be  oiled;  you  have  to 
be  fed;  the  wage  is  your  lubricant,  it  keeps  you  in  working 
order,  and  so  you  toil  and  sweat  and  groan  and  reproduce 
yourself  in  the  form  of  labor  power,  and  then  you  pass  away 
like  a  silk  worm  that  spins  its  task  and  dies. 

That  is  your  lot  in  the  capitalist  system  and  you  have  no 
right  to  aspire  to  rise  above  the  dead  level  of  wage-slavery. 

It  is  true  that  one  in  ten  thousand  may  escape  from  his 
rlasw?  and  become  a  millionaire;  he  is  the  rare  exception  that 


16 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


17 


If 


ek«r.S%^  ^^'  wage-workers  remain  in  the  working 
class  and  they  never  can  become  anything  else  in  the  capi- 
talist  system.  They  produce  and  perish,  ^d  their  explX 
bones  mingle  with  the  dust.  e^pioiiea 

h«S/!7.{^  ^f^V^  *  P^^'  industrial  paralysis,  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  workers  are  flung  into  the  st^te  • 
no  work,  no  wages ;  and  so  they  throng  the  highways  in  search 
of  employment  that  cannot  be  found ;  they  become  va^ 
tramps  outcaste,  criminals.    It  is  in  this  way  that  the  Cn 

sy^?em  Xr*'''  ^^  *^"*  ^T  S^^^uates  in  the  capitalist 
system,  all  the  way  from  petty  larceny  to  homicide. 

or  wv       f  ^  ^'^^T^  ""^^  P^°^"^^  *^e  wealth  haye  little 

™  Sfm*'  '^r/'\  '^'  .^^''^  ''  widespread  ignorance 
among  them;  mdustnal  and  social  conditions  prevail  that 
defy  all  language  properly  to  describe.     The  working  claL 

ren  m  enforced  competition  with  one  another,  in  all  of  the 
eirclmg  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  for  the  sale'of  their  labor 
power,  and  m  the  severity  of  the  competition  the  wage  inks 
gradually  until  it  touches  the  point  of Vubsistence.  ^ 
^i^A  A^^^}^^"""^  *^*°  ^^^  "^i"io°8  of  women  are  en- 
M-i^f  il^^^^  ^^  i"^"^^°°«  «^  ^^ild^en,  and  the  number 
of  chid  laborers  is  steadily  increasing,  for  in  this  system 
profit  IS  important,  while  life  has  no  vake.  It  is  not  a%ue^ 
tion  of  male  labor,  or  female  labor,  or  child  labor;  it  is  simplv 
a  question  of  cheap  labor  without  reference  to  th^  eV^t  Zn 

he'  ZZZl  Sro^M^-  "^"r  ''  ^"P^^y^^  '-  preference'to 
1.1^  ^v  ^!  ^\'\^ '°  preference  to  the  woman;  and  so  we 
have  millions  of  children,  who,  in  their  early,  tend^  y^a^ 

ttiX     *^VPi'/^"°^'  ^'  ^*  «^^^J>  ^hen  they  ought 

^d  en W 'fr]'^\*'  ^^"^  ^l'^  ^^^^^  ^  ^^'^  wholesome  f!od 
Z.f^Tl         ^^^  ateiosphere  they  are  forced  into  the  in- 

i^\rt  }•  '°'^v^*f  monBi^Ts  and  become  as  living  cogs 
in  the  revolving  wheels.  They  are  literally  fed  to  industry 
^produce  profite.  They  are  dwarfed  and'  deformed,  men! 
;telly,  morally  and  physically;  they  have  no  chance  in  life- 
ttey  are  the  victims  of  the  industrial  system  that  the  Indus' 
teal  Workers  is  organized  to  abolish,  in  the  interest,  not 


only  of  the  working  class,  but  in  the  higher  interest  of  all 
humanity.     ( Applause ) . 

If  there  is  a  crime  that  should  bring  to  the  callous  cheek 
of  capitalist  society  the  crimson  of  shame,  it  is  the  unspeak- 
able crime  of  child  slavery ;  the  millions  of  babes  that  fester 
in  the  sweat  shops,  are  the  slaves  of  the  wheel,  and  cry  out 
in  their  agony,  but  are  not  heard  in  the  din  and  roar  of  our 
industrial  infernalism. 

Take  that  great  army  of  workers,  called  coal  miners,  or- 
ganized in  a  craft  union  that  does  nothing  for  them;  that 
seeks  to  make  them  contented  with  their  lot.  These  miners 
are  at  the  very  foundation  of  industry  and  without  their  labor 
every  wheel  would  cease  to  revolve  as  if  by  the  decree  of  some 
industrial  Jehovah.  (Applause).  There  are  600,000  of 
these  slaves  whose  labor  makes  possible  the  firesides  of  the 
world,  while  their  own  loved  ones  shiver  in  the  cold.  I  know 
something  of  the  conditions  under  which  they  toil  and  despair 
and  perish.  I  have  taken  time  enough  to  descend  to  the 
depths  of  these  pits,  that  Dante  never  saw,  or  he  might  have 
improved  upon  his  masterpiece.  I  have  stood  over  these 
slaves  and  I  have  heard  the  echo  of  their  picks,  which  sounded 
te  me  like  muffled  drums  throbbing  funeral  marches  to  the 
grave,  and  I  have  said  to  myself,  in  the  capitalist  system, 
these  wretches  are  simply  following  their  own  hearses  to  the 
potter's  field.  In  all  of  the  horizon  of  the  future  there  is 
no  star  that  sheds  a  ray  of  hope  for  them. 

Then  I  have  followed  them  from  the  depths  of  these  black 
holes,  over  to  the  edge  of  the  camp,  not  to  the  home,  they 
have  no  home ;  but  to  a  hut  that  is  owned  by  the  corporation 
that  owns  them,  and  here  I  have  seen  the  wife,— Victor 
Hugo  once  said  that  the  wife  of  a  slave  is  not  a  wife  at  all ; 
she  is  simply  a  female  that  gives  birth  to  young— I  have  seen 
this  wife  standing  in  the  doorway,  after  trying  all  day  lon^ 
to  make  a  ten-cent  piece  do  the  service  of  a  half-dollar,  and 
she  was  ill-humored;  this  could  not  be  otherwise,  for  love 
and  abject  poverty  do  not  dwell  beneath  the  same  roof.  Here 
there  is  no  paper  upon  the  wall  and  no  carpet  upon  the  floor; 
there  is  not  a  picture  to  appeal  to  the  eye;  there  is  no  statute 
to  challenge  the  soul,  no  strain  of  inspiring  music  to  touch 
and  quicken  what  Lincoln  called  the  better  angels  of  human 


18 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


19 


!  f 


^^      L^  ^l^  *¥/®  'f  haggard  poverty  and  want.    And  in 
this  ateosphere  the  children  of  the  future  are  bein^  reared 
many  thousands  of  them,  under  conditions  that  make  it  mor- 
aUy  certain  that  they  wiU  become  paupers,  or  criminals,  or 

Man  is  the  product,  the  expression  of  his  enyironment 
Show  me  a  majestic  tree  that  towers  aloft,  that  challenges 
the  a^iration  of  man,  or  a  beautiful  rose-bud  that,  under 
^e  influence  of  sunshine  and  shower,  bursts  into  bloom  and 
fills  the  common  air  with  its  fragrance;  these  are  possible 
only  because  the  soil  and  climate  are  adapted  to  their  growth 
and  culture  Transfer  this  flower  from  the  sunlight  wid  the 
atmosphere  to  a  cellar  filled  with  noxious  gases,  and  it  withers 
and  dies  The  same  law  applies  to  human  beings ;  the  indus- 
tnai  soil  and  the  social  climate  must  be  adapted  to  the  de- 
velopment of  men  and  women,  and  then  society  will  cease 
producing  (cry  of  "down  with  capitalism")  the  multiplied 
thousands  of  deformities  that  to-day  are  a  rebuke  to  our 
much  vaunted  civilization,  and,  above  aU,  an  impeachment 
of  the  capitalist  system.     (Applause). 

What  is  true  of  the  miners  is  true  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 

^^ '?    *LT^^^®^®  ^  ^^^  ^^^^^  departments  of  industrial 
activity.     This  system  has  about  fulfilled  its  historic  mis- 

"^?  i^P^i?  ^""V  ^^^  *^®'"®  ^^®  *^^  unerring  signs  of  change 
and  the  time  has  come  for  the  organization  of  the  working 
class  to  pave  the  way  for  this  change.  Education  and  or- 
ganization  of  the  working  class  for  the  social  revolution 
(applause)  that  is  to  lift  the  workers  from  the  depths  of 
slavery  and  elevate  them  to  an  exalted  plane  of  equality  and 
fraternity.     (Applause).  ^        ^ 

At  the  beginning  of  industrial  society  men  worked  with 
hand  tools;  a  boy  could  learn  a  trade,  make  himself  the 
master  of  the  simple  tools  with  which  he  worked,  and  emplov 
himself  and  enjoy  what  he  produced ;  but  that  simple  tool  of 
a  century  ago  has  become  a  mammoth  social  instrument ;  in 
a  word,  that  tool  has  been  socialized.    Not  onlv  this,  but  pro- 
duction has  been  socialized.     As  small  a  commodity  as  a  pin 
^^  *,P?^'  ^^  *  ^^^^^  involves  for  its  production  all  of  the 
social  labor  of  the  land ;  but  this  evolution  is  not  yet  com- 
plete; the  fool  hp<:  benn  socialized,  production  hns  been  soci.il- 


ized,  and  now  ownership  must  also  be  socialized;  in  other 
words,  those  great  social  instruments  that  are  used  in  modem 
industry  for  the  production  of  wealth,  those  great  social 
agencies  that  are  socially  made  and  socially  used,  must  also 
be  socially  owned.     (Applause). 

The  Industrial  Workers  is  the  only  economic  organization 
that  makes  this  declaration,  that  states  this  fact  and  is  or- 
ganized upon  this  foundation,  that  the  workers  must  own 
their  tools  and  employ  themselves.  This  involves  a  revolu- 
tion, and  this  means  the  end  of  the  capitalist  system,  and 
the  rearing  of  a  working  class  republic  (prolonged  applause), 
the  first  real  republic  the  world  has  ever  known ;  and  it  is 
coming  just  as  certainly  as  I  stand  in  your  presence. 

You  can  hasten  it,  or  you  can  retard  it,  but  you  cannot 
prevent  it. 

This  the  working  class  can  achieve,  and  if  you  are  in  that 
class  and  you  do  not  believe  it,  it  is  because  of  your  ignorance, 
it  is  because  you  got  your  education  in  the  school  of  pure  and 
simple  unionism,  or  in  a  capitalist  political  party.  This  the 
working  class  can  achieve  and  all  that  is  required  is  that  the 
working  class  shall  be  educated,  that  they  shall  unite,  that 
they  shall  act  together. 

The  capitalist  politician  and  the  labor  lieutenant  have  al- 
ways contrived  to  keep  the  working  class  divided,  upon  the 
economic  field  and  upon  the  political  field;  and  the  workers 
have  made  no  progress,  and  never  will  until  they  desert  those 
false  leaders  and  unite  beneath  the  revolutionary  standard  of 
the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World.     (Applause). 

The  capitalists  have  the  mills  and  the  tools  and  the  dol- 
lars, but  you  are  an  overwhelming  majorit\^;  you  have  the 
men,  you  have  the  votes.  There  are  not  enough  of  them  to 
continue  this  system  an  instant ;  it  can  only  be  continued  bv 
your  consent  and  with  your  approval,  and  to  the  extent  that 
you  give  it  you  are  responsible  for  your  slavery;  and  if  you 
have  your  eyes  opened,  if  you  understand  where  you  properly 
belong,  it  is  still  a  fortunate  thing  for  you  that  you  cannot 
do  anything  for  yourself  until  you  have  opened  the  eves  of 
those  that  are  yet  in  darkness.     (Applause). 

Now,  there  are  many  workers  who  have  had  their  eyes 
opened  and  they  are  giving  their  time  and  energy  to  the  revo- 


20 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


and  an  energy  unkiown  in  the  cirdes  of  union,!  T  ^ 
^onths  from  this  night  you  will  S  that  the  fis  a  ve'^^ 
formidable  organization  of  Industrial  Worked  in  New  Vo^ 

act  now  and  for  yourself-  Jr^TTt  LI  ^        .1'    ^^*  ^^^ 

i^L^  1^  '™P'7  monumental  of  the  ienorance  of  vo«r 
?  r TTSe"whilftr  '''^^  «"•*  *"  b«^- teTu?at:'thC 
of  contim?t,tw  t^'crslTdli^^^^        ""!!  *^^-  ^"^^^ 

e^Stheta ]Lt  of-rTanZ'd-  *^'^'  ^  ^^     ^^^ 

Camp  Fri  "*  ''  ''  ^^'^'^S  qmck-step  marches  t<; 

Stand  erect !    Lift  your  bowed  form  from  the  earth  i    Th« 
dust  has  long  «,ough  borne  the  impress  of  your  taeJs 

ligW     ZSas^  'h  ,'r  "  ^'' '^""  you'castSe  sun- 

con^tioif^Sd  th^enS'iot'Lr;'  ^**^  '^^  »^°"  y-' 
quences  of  your  ite°      ^  '  ^""^  "  '"""'  *«  ''""^ 

wo5:«liiS^  TndC  w''-  .  ^1!'^  ^*  *°  h'^^  the 
eion/you  ail  tun'd 'to  ,S  thT iX^iS  ^or^:  ^11 


INDUSTRIAL  UNIONISM. 


«1 


come  a  missionary  in  the  field  of  industrial  unionism.  You 
will  then  feel  the  ecstacy  of  a  new-born  aspiration.  You  will 
do  your  very  best.  You  will  wear  the  badge  of  the  Indus- 
trial Workers,  and  you  will  wear  it  with  pride  and  joy. 

The  very  contempt  that  it  invites  will  be  a  compliment 
to  you;  in  truth,  a  tribute  to  your  manhood. 

Go  out  into  the  field  and  bring  in  the  rest  of  the  workers, 
that  they  may  be  fully  equipped  for  their  great  mission.  We 
will  wrest  what  we  can,  step  by  step,  from  the  capitalists,  but 
with  our  eye  fixed  upon  the  goal;  we  will  press  forward,  keep- 
ing step  together  with  the  inspiring  music  of  the  new  eman- 
cipation ;  and  when  we  have  enough  of  this  kind  of  organiza- 
tion, as  Brother  De  Leon  said  so  happily  the  other  day  (ap- 
plause), when  we  are  lined  up  in  battle  array,  and  the  cap- 
italists try  to  lock  us  out,  we  will  turn  the  tables  on  the 
gentlemen  and  lock  them  out.     (Applause). 

We  can  run  the  mills  without  them  but  they  cannot  run 
them  without  us.     (Applause). 

It  is  a  very  important  thing  to  develop  the  economic  power 
to  have  a  sound  economic  organization.  This  has  been  the 
mherent  weakness  in  the  labor  movement  of  the  United 
States.  We  need,  and  sorely  need,  a  revolutionary  economic 
organization.  We  must  develop  this  kind  of  strength ;  it  is 
the  kind  that  we  will  have  occasion  to  use  in  due  time,  and 
it  18  the  kind  that  will  not  fail  us  when  the  crisis  comes.  So 
we  shall  organize  and  continue  to  organize  the  political  field  • 
and  1  am  of  those  that  believe  that  the  day  is  near  at  hand 
when  we  shall  have  one  great  revolutionary  economic  organ- 
ization of  the  working  class  and  one  g^reat  revolutionary 
political  party  of  the  working  class.  (Cheers  and  prolonged 
app  ause).  Then  will  proceed  with  increased  impetus  the 
work  of  education  and  organization  that  will  culminate  in 
emancipation. 

This  great  body  will  sweep  into  power  and  seize  the  reins 
of  government ;  take  possession  of  industry  in  the  name  of 
the  working  class  and  it  can  be  easily  done.  All  that  will 
be  required  will  be  to  transfer  the  title  from  the  parasites 
to  the  producers;  and  then  the  working  class,  in  control  of 

^Iru"^'  '^'"  T.'*^*^  '*  ^'^''  *^^  ^^"^^*  0^  all.     The  work  dav 
will  be  reduced  m  proportion  to  the  progress  of  invention 


M'^ 


JNI>;  .Mi;i  \,.  UNION 


n8M. 


'i^'i^:'m^:^lt\^t^'^  «  chance  to  work,  „u.. 

i»  l.is  work  m  d  work  witMoT^Tl      1  *'"«"?•■«=«  himself 
•>o  t,.  only  badgrtf'^ltC;^''*?^,;^.^^^^^^^^^^^ 
will  becwne  a  tt-mplo  of  science      ThnLL?'  ''•"'?«'" 
!->-^,  and  all  \..»,Liy  diseXalled  '"'""  •■''^''  *'"  '«• 

redlteTrof'thrut":  rnTxr^r''^  <«w''--) ;  «... 

irreat  historic  miss    n    men  ,n         "'^  ^""^  ^''"'"'=''  *«^ 
lands  and  enjov  X  vi^on  Tt      T'T  ?""  *«"'  "'«  high- 

triumph   of    Freedom    and    CiWMzation     ""•'''^"''''"f  '"   ">,• 
applause).  '-ivuization.     (Long,   eontinue.1 


/ 


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